CS 4441 – Networks II

Wi-Fi
(Wireless Fidelity)
WirelessLAN

IEEE 802.11x
 IEEE 802.11 – Intro

• WLANs are one of the most used access network

technologies worldwide today.
• Workplace, Home, Cafe`s, Airports, etc (Interworking with
wirer LANs)

Standard Frequency Data rate

Range
802.11 b 2.4 – 2.485 GHz Up to 11 Mbps

802.11 a 5.1 – 5.8 GHz Up to 54 Mbps

802.11 g 2.4 – 2.485 GHz Up to 54 Mbps

Wi-Fi is becoming ubiquitous
 Wi-Fi – Increasing device support

• Phones & Accessories

• Tablets, E-readers, etc.
• Laptops, Desktops
• Connected Home (Smart TVs, etc)
• Auto-mobiles
• Etc.
 IEEE 802.11 – Radio Spectrum

• The 2.4 GHz is the only unlicensed band available worldwide.

• ISM frequency band at 2.4 to 2.485 GHz does not require
licensing but users may encounter interference from
microwave ovens (at 2.450 GHz).
Available frequency at 5.7 GHz - Unlicensed National
Information Infrastructure (U-NII)

Advantages Disadvantages
Higher data rates Less coverage range
Less susceptible to High multipath
interference propagation
Available worldwide
 U-NII

• The U-NII (Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure)

spectrum is at 5.15-5.35 GHz and 5.725-5.825 GHz (300 MHz
total).
• U-NII frequency spectrum will provide short-range, high speed
wireless digital communications.
 IEEE 802.11 – Family Standards

System Data Capacity Spectrum Air Interface

IEEE 802.11b- 11 Mbps 2.4 GHz (ISM) DSSS
1999
IEEE 802.11a- 54 Mbps 5.7 GHz (U-NII) OFDM
1999
IEEE 802.11g- 54 Mbps 2.4 GHz (ISM) OFDM
2003
IEEE 802.11n- >100-540 Mbps 2.4 GHz OFDM-MIMO
2008

802.11e-2005 MAC QoS

802.11i-2004 MAC Security
IEEE 802.11 – Evolution path
 IEEE 802.11n – Salient features

Maximum data rate 600Mbps

RF Band (GHz) 2.4 or 5

Modulation DSSS or OFDM

Channel width (MHz) 20 MHz or 40 MHz

MIMO
 IEEE 802.11ac – Salient features

Maximum data rate 1.3 Gbps

RF Band (GHz) 5 GHz

Modulation BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM,

256-QAM
Channel width (MHz) 20, 40, 60, 80, 160 (80 + 80) MHz

MIMO (SU and MU)

Beamforming
IEEE 802.11
IEEE 802.11
 IEEE 802.11

• Single 802.11 MAC layer supports many PHYs.

MAC
FH PHY DS PHY DS PHY OFDM PHY
802.11 802.11 802.11b 802.11g
1 Mbps 2Mbps 11 Mbps 54 Mbps
 IEEE 802.11 LAN Architecture

 wireless host communicates

Internet with base station
 base station = access point
(AP)
 Basic Service Set (BSS) (aka

hub, switch
“cell”) in infrastructure mode
or router contains:
AP  wireless hosts
 access point (AP): base
BSS 1
station
AP
 ad hoc mode: hosts only

BSS 2
 IEEE 802.11 Channels & Association

• 802.11b: 2.4GHz-2.485GHz spectrum divided into 11

channels at different frequencies
– AP admin chooses frequency for AP
– Interference possible: channel can be same as that chosen by
neighboring AP.

• host: must associate with an AP

– scans channels, listening for beacon frames containing AP’s
name (SSID) and MAC address
– selects AP to associate with
– may perform authentication (WEP, WPA, etc)
– will typically run DHCP to get IP address in AP’s subnet
 IEEE 802.11 Passive & Active Scanning

BBS 1 BBS 2 BBS 1 BBS 2

AP 1 AP 2 AP 1 1 AP 2
1 1 2 2
2 3
3 4

H1 H1

Passive Scanning:
(1) beacon frames sent from APs
(2) association Request frame
sent: H1 to selected AP
(3) association Response frame
sent: H1 to selected AP
Active Scanning:
(1) Probe Request frame
broadcast from H1
(2) Probes response frame sent
from APs
(3) Association Request frame
sent: H1 to selected AP
(4) Association Response frame
sent: H1 to selected AP
 IEEE 802.11 – Multiple Access
• avoid collisions: 2+ nodes transmitting at same time
• 802.11: CSMA - sense before transmitting
– don’t collide with ongoing transmission by other node
• 802.11: no collision detection!
– difficult to receive (sense collisions) when transmitting due to
weak received signals (fading)
– can’t sense all collisions in any case: hidden terminal, fading
– goal: avoid collisions: CSMA/C(ollision)A(voidance)

A B C
C
A’s signal C’s signal
B strength strength
A
space
 IEEE 802.11 – MAC Protocol (CSMA/CA)

802.11 sender
1 if sense channel idle for DIFS then sender receiver
transmit entire frame (no CD)
2 if sense channel busy then DIFS

start random backoff time

timer counts down while channel idle data
transmit when timer expires
if no ACK, increase random backoff interval,
repeat 2 SIFS

802.11 receiver ACK

- if frame received OK
return ACK after SIFS (ACK needed due to hidden
terminal problem)
 Avoiding Collisions

idea: allow sender to “reserve” channel rather than random

access of data frames: avoid collisions of long data frames.

• sender first transmits small request-to-send (RTS) packets to

BS using CSMA
– RTSs may still collide with each other (but they’re short)
• BS broadcasts clear-to-send CTS in response to RTS
• CTS heard by all nodes
– sender transmits data frame
– other stations defer transmissions

avoid data frame collisions completely

using small reservation packets!
 Collision Avoidance: RTS-CTS Exchange

A B
AP

RTS(A) RTS(B)

reservation collision
RTS(A)

CTS(A) CTS(A)

DATA (A)
defer

time
ACK(A) ACK(A)
 CS 4441

The greatest oak was once a little nut that

held its ground.

Never quit!
 Assignment

• Compare and contrast CSMA/CD and CSMA/CA.

• Submission date & time: null.